The typhoon made landfall and traveled up Japan's southernmost main island of Kyushu, weather officials said. Heavy rain and wind also pounded the neighboring island of Shikoku.

"The wind and rain were so strong earlier this morning, I could hardly walk - I couldn't leave the building," said Mitoshi Shiroi from his flooded grocery store in Kyushu's Tarumizu town. "The water just keeps on coming in from under the door."

More than 270,000 households in Kyushu lost power, said Kyushu Electric Power Co. spokesman Tetsuo Yano.

Three people were killed when landslides swept through their homes in Kagoshima, said police official Hideaki Torigoe. A landslide killed another man in neighboring Miyazaki prefecture, said local police official Takayoshi Tanaka.

Police in several Kyushu prefectures and on nearby Shikoku island said 16 others were missing, and more than 60,000 were ordered to evacuate their homes. National broadcaster NHK reported 51 people had been injured.